To Pierce through Time and Space
by MarioFireRed
Summary: When two of Glaive's apprentices prove his patience one last time, he sends them on a mission: Find 3 El Shards scattered in different time periods in the place you're sent to or be forced to spend an eternal time loop. With this much at stake, will the two come out on top or repeat their mistakes until they get it right? (Elsword fanfic doubling as a History Project)
1. Prologue: Glaive's Challenge

**Me: Well...here's that homework I've been working on this past week.**

**Mario: ...homework? This is an Elsword fanfiction.**

**Me: I know, this prologue and the later chapters are for my History project. And I do say that I did meet the requirements of talking about two people and one event per era for two civilizations :D.**

**Mario: *sigh* Let's hope you're right then Fire. Prologue, START!**

* * *

_Prologue: Glaive's Challenge_

All was quiet in the horrifically silent blue realm, where only the faintest sound originated from the occasional dimly glowing cubes that hanged suspended in mid-air. Finally, just like the calm before the storm, two weapons clashed as their respective owners sparred under the watchful eye of their master Glaive, a mysterious masked man fully robed with spiky white hair. Several old keys clanged from their home on the man's robe too aged for any key to unlock them, as if the Administrator of Time and Space locked himself away from the rest of the world in his little dimension. He amusingly witnessed the sparring match between his two students as he mindlessly dangled two brightly illuminating blue cubes in the open palm of one of his gloved hands.

His first student caused him grief time and time again ever since he agreed to mentor the crimson-haired teenager. The young Swordsman, Elsword, hacked and slashed his opponent without much thought, enabling for the other apprentice to smoothly dodge them with ease and back-flips to put more space between the two. Silently cursing under his breath, he fired flaming runes straight at his opponent who yet again blocked the attack by shooting them down with his dual revolvers. This time audibly informing his sparring partner that he's filling with rage, Elsword charges right at him only to meet several magical charged bullets to the abdomen. Grunting with each attack, he scornfully admits defeat due to Glaive's interference to halt the match. From this match alone, Elsword continued to enforce his rebellious outgoing spirit by switching tactics in the blink of an eye. However his hot-headed temper and aloof mind at times gets the better of him, especially when his opponent taunts him for being weak. After scolding Elsword for having the aforementioned negative traits lose sight of his victory, Glaive glances to his other apprentice.

If Elsword runs like hot water then the other apprentice, Chung, is the calm cooling water steadily flowing from the faucet. Born a reserved and introverted prince of the grand city Hamel, the secret teenager who kept even his real name locked in a code polished and cleaned his two revolvers, nicknamed the Silver Shooters, as he jokingly boasts to his glum red-headed friend about another match won. Glaive was pleased with Chung's calm and calculated formula of thinking, however during the timed exercises the gunslinger always failed due to spending too much time planning rather than acting. He looked at the prideful blonde spiky-haired prince with curiosity, why does he need to play his victories so big no matter how miniscule they seem? Then again, having two apprentices both 16 years of age leaves a lot of groundwork to downplay their pride, whichever form it so happens to take.

"Elsword." Glaive's gruff voice began lecturing his pupils. "If you weren't so hot tempered and actually planned a strategy, you could've easily overtaken Chung with your superior physical build."

"Tch whatever, I'm attacking him anyway." Elsword scoffed back, smirking to take in the strict master's compliment. It was once in a blue moon that Glaive actually praised the self-proclaimed Rune Slayer, one who slays with sword and runes, with just about anything ever since training with him and Chung began about six months ago with the eradication of the demons that plagued their continent Elrios for the past several years. He stretched casually, moving his bangs away with his hands once he finished, and continued his argument. "I can attack in close range and in long range Glaive, either way I'm able to deal damage in any distance I want."

"It's true you have the versatility to attack in all quarters Elsword, but mastering the right opportunity to strike like Chung here is the key to victory." The masked man's lectures seemed to bore the young crimson teenager, the latter yawning out of boredom. His gunslinger pupil, who dubbed himself the

Deadly Chaser, chuckled at being compared superior to his friend to point out Elsword's glaring flaws. Unfortunately for him, this points Glaive straight at Chung. "And Chung quit boasting, you're almost as arrogant as Elsword!"

Chung calmed himself and attempted to smooth his way out of being punished by Glaive just as he always has. "Me as arrogant as Elsword? I'm way smarter than he is anyway, plus I did always win these sparring matches." Before Glaive could nod his head in Chung's reasoning, Elsword butted in.

"Yeah right what about those timed sessions? You always failed those because of all that planning in your head! How about acting out your plan first and think about the next course of action as they flow by?" He sternly yet playfully reminded Chung.

"At least I can actually think about what the next plan to take, you simply charge into battle hoping for the best-" After Chung's outburst the two students squabbled at each other for a couple of minutes, Glaive sighing at their immaturity. When the whining fest reaches a point where it could last for hours, the Administrator of Time and Space finally butted in.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" He boomed, signaling a very harsh punishment in store for the two of them. Last time they had to carry two full buckets of water and run around the entire space of Henrir, which was the size of the vast continent of Elrios, in three laps. Elsword and Chung gulped, nervously waiting for their discipline this time. Glaive took the two blue cubes he was playing with in his hands and held one for each hand. "Now time to give you two a lesson." He enlarged both cubes revealing a portal to two foreign worlds, surely they aren't from Elrios? "These portals both head to the same world in a similar dimension to ours except in two different places. You can still use your weapons to fend for yourself once there, however Elsword no longer has access to his runes and Chung would need to find real ammunition for his Silver Shooters." The two apprentices expressed their dislike very audibly upon hearing that.

"You are to locate the hidden objects I have located there called the El Shards." As if muttering a spell, a small yet sharp blue-green dimly sparkling shard appeared in front of him. "I will scatter them through different points of time within your designated region. If you find the one within the region, it will automatically transport you further in time for the next one. Once you find all three, I will transport you back here. Otherwise you'll have to suffer the rest of eternity searching for them in a never ending time loop, do you two understand me?!" He firmly finished explaining his punishment to the two teenagers, who quickly nodded their heads in fear.

"Good." He glanced at the two of them, figuring out who to send first. "Elsword," Upon hearing his name the crimson boy immediately straightened up, "I want you to search through China, a group of people I hear are very conservative and thoughtful. Maybe some of the people you happen to meet and experiences you witness should stop that irresponsible charging habit of yours." Now he faced at Chung, who gulped louder than Elsword despite being more reserved. Obviously Glaive didn't punish him as often as the hot-headed Swordsman.

"Chung," Once again Chung immediately straightened up although in a more dignified manner, "You will travel through Japan, a group of 'Shoguns' as they call themselves that achieve innovation in a short span of time. Searching for the El Shards there should give you a chance to stop biding your time planning and act more often, though not to the point of pure recklessness." He glared at Elsword when informing Chung of his last statement.

"I guess I have no choice then." Elsword shrugged. "I wonder if these 'China' people-" After firmly getting corrected by Glaive he tried again. "I'm sorry, I wonder if the CHINESE people are just a bunch of old hermits who hole themselves up in some Great Wall and close themselves from the rest of the world." Despite his sarcastic humor, Elsword's mentor is worried that his hot-blooded Knight could be right.

"I'm honored to gain more knowledge from this exercise, even if this is a punishment." Chung, obviously acquiring more polite manners if any than Elsword, bowed in respect to his master. "Though I doubt if any of them are as hot-headed as Elsword, I'll hardly learn much about rushing myself into a problem headfirst without a Plan B." Once again joking, Glaive couldn't help but think that his apprentices may be sharper than what meets the eye.

"Enough insolence you two." He firmly reminded them of their forced task. "Now Elsword take the portal to your left, Chung take the one to your right. May you two have a safe journey." His students nodded and entered their respective portals, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Once they both entered in their designated destinations, Glaive rested in his throne and pulled up a cube-shaped split screen to track the progress of his two students in these unknown lands.

_I wonder how Elsword and Chung will handle the special surprises I left for them? _He chuckled somewhat darkly to himself, knowing full well the kinds of people he specifically transported the two pupils near to. All that remains now is how his young students react to the people they interact and the lessons they learn through their mission.

* * *

**Mario: Elsword and Chung are...**

**Me: Yep I made them apprentices of Glaive for this story, really the only way I can make this an Elsword fanfic and a History project telling their adventures with various historical figures and events.**

**Crystal: ...Oh god I wonder how this will go.**

**Me: I have no idea :D! I just hope the story gets me a good grade and is well received here as well!**

**UPDATE: Got a 90 on this, one the best grades I got in that course all year woot!**


	2. Chapter 1: An Expedition Overseas

**Me: Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I already turned in the whole History project today so I'll be uploading the chapters here: 2 a day is my goal.**

**Mario: What's there to do? All you're doing is copy-pasting**

**Me: Shush, OC creation of mine. Anyway the odd chapters are Elsword sections while the even ones are Chung's. With that said...Chapter 1, START!**

**This is not a perfect representation of History...**

**Like I care, now shut up and enjoy the fanfic.**

* * *

_Chapter 1: An Expedition Overseas_

Mumbling in pain, a young crimson teenager rubbed his aching head after crash landing onto the grass. _Darn that Glaive. _Elsword thought to himself. _You'd think I'd get transported straight to the ground, but no we had to free fall over three thousand feet in the air! Hope Chung felt the same rush I did. _He acted annoyed until he heard a voice call out to him.

"...lo?" The voice, definitely masculine, was distant and sounding friendly. Quickly surveying the area, Elsword confirms that he's alone within his area. _Who is this person, and what the heck does he want?_ "Hello!" The Swordsman acted surprised upon seeing a strange and almost too happy looking man approach him in a friendly manner. Taking his face with the wrong signal, Elsword frantically searches for his sword on the ground and pulls it up gripping it with two hands. Immediately the strange man held both arms up and had a shocked expression.

"Who are you and where the heck are we?!" The hot-blooded boy demanded answers from the strange man. Immediately Elsword heard the clang of several spears surrounding the two in a rigid circle.

"Halt insolent brat!" One of those grown spear-men talked him down with somewhat imposing authority. "Don't lay a finger on Zheng He, Captain of the Chinese Exploration expeditions granted by our Emperor!" The man threatened, pointing his spear towards the strange man.

"Zheng He?" Elsword relaxed and placed his blade over the shoulder. "He doesn't seem like a captain of anything to me, and I bet I can take all you cronies on with one hand tied behind my back!"

"You little-"

"Silence young one." Zheng He, the strange man threatened by the young teenager, shut up one of his subordinates in a polite tone. He then gathers his attention to Elsword and informs him of where he is, aware that he is not from this world and can be treated as an ally. "My name is Zheng He. Just as they have explained, I am indeed a Captain of these expeditions we undergo through overseas, thanks to our gracious Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di." Zheng stopped explaining when Elsword yawned out of boredom.

"Okay so basically a Sea Captain who travels the world with his buddies on a ship thanks to the almighty 'Emperor' of China or whatever." Elsword picked his ear and understood in simpler terms. "Anyway I'm just here to find a glowing blue shard, find something like that?" He asked, impatient to stay in this world and wished to get back home as soon as possible. To his growling dismay, all of them shook their heads.

"We're about to embark on another expedition through the Indian Ocean to expand our land, do you wish to come?" Zheng asked Elsword. Left with no other options, the Swordsman had no choice but to grudgingly obey and sheathed his sword. Shoving his hand in his pockets, Elsword blew his bangs away from his face and followed the happy-go-lucky captain and his crew to the one of his ships. Once they reached it, Elsword briefly stopped and his eyes gaped at the monstrous view.

The ship, which those Chinese explorers insisted on calling the "junkies", was a wooden model just like back home. Elsword however wasn't surprised on the model or what the ship was made out of, but of the size of it. Nothing back in Hamel can even compare to this gigantic vessel spanning a dozen masts throughout the ship. _You can fit the entire village of Ruben on that thing!_ Overcoming his shock, the Swordsman went on board right as the Junkie sailed off.

* * *

"What do you think of the sea so far, young Elsword?" Zheng hesitated a bit when he tried to remember the name of the person he's addressing beside him. Several hours passed since they embarked and the sky transitioned into early dusk, since then the crimson boy never left the side of the ship once.

"Tch, why do you care?" Elsword grunted and spat at the ocean. "I just want to get home and get this lesson over with."

"Lesson?" The boy winced, he didn't mean to slip that out and intrigue the friendly captain.

"My teacher wants me and my friend somewhere else in this world to find three of those shards I told you about earlier." Before continuing, Elsword glanced at Zheng when the latter recalled the boy mentioning a blue shard. "They're called El Shards, and I need them in order to get back home."

"That does not mean you can scowl at everyone you meet in what you call a strange new world. To us, we see you as an ignorant and arrogant boy to be treated as an enemy."

Elsword growled. "Is that a threat?" He threatened to take out his sword.

However Zheng remained calm. "No it is not, but being patient is a virtue not a curse. You claim to be a skilled Swordsman young one, how long did you train yourself to become stronger."

Grudgingly, Elsword answered. "Three...three years."

"You see, that is patience right there." Zheng explained. "Just as we Explorers have patience in traveling the vast seas, you have patience in training your skills young man." Irritated by the kind captain's logic, Elsword stepped away from the side of the ship and headed for the deck.

"I'm heading to my cabin. Good night 'Captain'." He scowled at Zheng one last time before finding his away inside the deck to his lodgings, trying to forget everything the man told him only a few moments ago. Plopping himself on top of his bed, all Elsword could think about was the conversation he had with Zheng that overpowered all other thoughts inside his head.

_Forget his "inspirational" speech! If he's in my shoes, he'd definitely try to go home as soon as possible. All patience is is waiting, waiting, and more waiting! _Elsword thought scoffing and pulled the bed sheets over him. _Whatever, I still have to have patience anyway. I can't find all three El Shards in a single day, bet Chung couldn't either! _He smirked at the thought and drifted off into sleep.

Elsword woke up the next morning with a loud "THUMP!" as the treasure "junkie" swerved a sharp U-turn back to China at early dawn. Rubbing his head from sudden collision with the wooden floor, the teenager equipped his sword and sprinted outside to the deck. There he meets Zheng seriously discussing with several of the other sailors who traveled with him. Upon seeing the moving figure of the young boy Zheng dismissed his crew and turned his attention to Elsword, storming his way towards the captain in a fit of rage.

"WHAT'S WITH THE SUDDEN 180?!" Elsword screamed, still mad about having his sleep interrupted on a date with a wooden floor. "A SIMPLE WARNING WOULD'VE BEEN NICE!" Instead of directly responding to him, Zheng gazed at the direction the ship is now sailing to.

"I hope we're not too late. It's lucky we haven't been out at sea for too long." Elsword became irritated for being ignored and got in front of the captain's vision.

"Pay attention to me! And what's this about not being too late? Someone's being a total hypocrite right now." Elsword calmed down once he understood Zheng, still curious on why they had to rush back to China.

"One of our night owls," Zheng turned to two men sitting by a mast, one of them cleaning their spear, "managed to fish out a bottle from the sea containing a letter. Those stubborn Europeans are trying once again tempting our Emperor to open trade with them. Normally we would just close ourselves in and decline the offer, however there's been threats of religious conversion in the bureaucracy. We must return at once!"

"The Europeans-" Before Elsword could ask, a booming voice called from the bow of the ship.

"CAPTAIN!" One of the sailors beckoned Zheng.

"If you want to learn more Elsword, ask those two old folk." Zheng pointed Elsword to the same two men who found the bottle and rushed off to his men. Sighing but curious, the crimson boy walked over to the two sailors and sat down.

"What do you want kid?" The young one cleaning his spear asked.

"Who are the Europeans?" Both stared wide-eyed at Elsword as if he asked a dumb question.

"Those Europeans young boy!" The elder one shot up, drinking something out of his bottle. "If Zhu Yuanzhang was here, we'd kick them out like we did the Mongols!"

Elsword's head ran laps in confusion. "E-Excuse me?"

"He doesn't know about our history Old Timer." The spear-man corrected his friend. "Allow me to explain." He told Elsword all about Yuanzhang, usually referred to as first emperor of the Ming Dynasty or the Hongwu Emperor. After a lengthy explanation, including several short summaries along the way to bring him back on track, Elsword thanked the two for their time and noticed land straight ahead.

_So a Chinese peasant who kicked out these omnipotent Mongols and brought peace and prosperity to China huh? Too bad he's too paranoid about his sons ruling after him despite helping run this Chinese bureaucracy more efficiently to care. _Elsword kept the brief information he learned from the Hongwu Emperor in his head when the ship finally docked at the port. Immediately all of the treasure junkie's occupants raced out of the ship and sprinted towards the tallest structure Elsword can only assume is the current Emperor's palace, Zhu Di or the Yongle Emperor.

* * *

"Oh come now, Christianity has a God that genuinely cares for your well-being and offers his salvation to you fellow Christian." One of two Christian Jesuits, Matteo Ricci, tried to wow the Chinese scholar-gentry, or the Chinese scholars, into converting from Confucianism to Christianity.

"Disgusting." One of the scholars, an aged bearded man, scoffed while stroking his magnificent facial hair. "Like I would exchange the comfort of my beliefs that I grew up with all my life for some barbaric nonsense with you baboons."

"You-"

"Not now Ricci." His more rational Jesuit friend, Adam Schall, calmed him down and took a bold move. "What about you all-powerful Ming Emperor?" The robed Christian gave the look of a convincing telemarketer to a slightly obese and powerful man with a long moustache and beard in a more fanciful yellow robe raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "Surely the Emperor of China will accept guaranteed salvation with our lord and savior?"

"I was chosen by my father to lead this grand country." The Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, counter-argued with the Jesuits. "My father who was chosen by his father the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who was chosen by God himself to overthrow the Mongols and take power back to China. Why should I convert to your religion with its guaranteed salvation if I was indirectly hand-picked by God to place me in this powerful position and rule the humans in his place?"

Ricci and Schall stumbled. "W-Well..."

"BANG!" The grand door in the front of the palace barged open with a dozen men and a young boy. The jesuits, scholar-gentry, and Zhu were shocked that such commoners would dare interrupt a formal meeting but the latter two were pleased upon seeing a familiar face. "Ah Zheng He." The Emperor formally and politely addressed his high-ranking friend. "I see you received my message?"

"Yes your Majesty." Zheng and the rest of the sailors bowed, Elsword a brief moment after being firmly told by the Captain to do so. "And it looks like these stubborn Europeans don't know when to give up!" On his word, Elsword immediately got up first and walked to the two white skinned folk while cracking his knuckles.

_Strange that they have white skin and blue eyes like a certain gunslinger I know. _Elsword thought, remembered his own white skin but ruby red eyes. "Permission to bring the beatdown to these two knuckleheads your Highness?" He smirked, rejoicing with glee with the assumed granted permission from the Expedition Explorers and the Scholars to smack the two Europeans into next week.

Fortunately for Elsword, even the omnipotent Emperor has a sense of humor. "Permission to bring the beatdown, granted."

"ALRIGHT!" Elsword shouted in glee while the Christian Jesuits screamed in disagree, the young boy chasing the two swinging his sword around like nobody's business. "SMACK! CRASH! THRASH!" Like a little child, Elsword easily overpowered the two unarmed Christians while audibly making attacking sounds out loud. He wiped his hands in victory and sheathed his sword, dragging the beaten up duo outside with him.

"G-God will smite you young m-man!" Ricci managed to curse out before literally getting kicked out of the palace with their bottoms courtesy of Elsword.

"And stay out!" The Swordsman enjoyed mocking the two as they very painfully trudged away from the palace and from China. He chuckled to himself and wondered if Glaive was watching him now and what he thought. _Bet he'll think I'm such a badass, those guys are even more of a joke than that burly thief Banthus! _Elsword remembered the boastful brute back at Elrios who effortlessly got beaten to a pulp by his 13 year old counterpart in the past. He stretched and stepped back inside, finally remembering his mission. "Oh, Yongle Emperor or whatever," Elsword started to ask, "Did you happen to find any blue glowing shards somewhere around here?"

Zhu Di raised an eyebrow and his mind clicked pulling out Elsword's desired out of the pocket of his robe, a faintly glowing blue-green shard. "Would this be it? One of my advisers pointed it out to me when it was used as a night light at my bedside the other night." The Swordsman smacked his face with his palm in disbelief, the supposed Ming Emperor of China mistaking a mysterious shard for a stupid light source to keep away the monsters at night.

Nevertheless his face lit up at the sight of it. "Yes that's it! Good thing I found it!" With the Emperor's word, Zheng He allowed Elsword to hold the shard. Suddenly the shard, which Elsword explained as the El Shard, brightened up in an instant, enveloping the crimson boy in a glowing aura of light.

"Farewell Elsword, may you go home in peace." Everyone in the room who interacted with him said their brief goodbyes to the Swordsman. Smirking in return despite the short and chaotic time spent with them, Elsword waved goodbye as well.

In a flash the aura disappeared, Elsword and the El Shard along with it. _I wonder where I'll end up this time..._ The Crimson Swordsman thought, taking a liking to China if they have more kind people such as those two he met.

* * *

**Crystal: Oh fun, I really hope the other chapters are more interesting than this**

**Me: Shush, other OC creation of mine -_-! Anyway R&R on what you guys think so far :D**


	3. Chapter 2: A Salute of Firearms

**Me: Alright some Chung action here! He's meeting Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and as a side character Ieyasu in this chapter!**

**Chung: Oh joy...ambitious Japanese daimyos...**

**Mario: Deal with it Chung I read the rest of the script. Enjoy these men while it lasts, and I DON'T mean it that way.**

**Crystal: Suuuuure you do.**

**Me: ...CHAPTER 2 BEFORE SOMETHING GOES WRONG, START!**

* * *

_Chapter 2: A Salute of Firearms_

"So that's how you ended up in this land of ours?" A skinny general nodded after hearing a young gunslinger's story. The general watched in curiosity as the young blonde haired boy polished his "Silver Shooter" guns and fired a test shot in the air to make sure they aren't faulty.

_Less convenient than my magic-powered shots but these specialized .32 caliber bullets should do the trick. _The blue-eyed marksman manually reloaded a bullet he crafted inside the chamber of his revolver, as he called it with his new-found comrades without sounding too loony. "Yeah that sums it up right. Thanks for finding and saving me at that battle back at Okehazama, Hideyoshi."

"No problem." Hideyoshi, the general who grew amongst the ranks from a foot soldier to practically second-in-command, downplayed the boy's thanks. "I never expected such a young lad like you to be an expert marksman, how old are you Chung?" He asked the blond haired gunslinger.

"Sixteen." Chung admitted. "My friend is the same age as me and he's a really good Swordsman."

"Amazing, such young kids and already at a masterful skill." The friendly general admired Chung's skills. "It's a good thing our great daimyo, Nobunaga, managed to find your skills useful when we ambushed Imagawa back there. I thought we'd never behead him if you didn't stun him with one of your bullets.

"Well, I am called the Deadly Chaser back ho-"

"Kozaru!" Hideyoshi turned his head to find the cold eyes of the ambitious daimyo, Nobunaga, glare at him and Chung while saddled on his black horse. "I have a mission for you and your little friend here."

"Y-Yes sir!" With Hideyoshi's acknowledgment, the two patted themselves clean from the dirt and straightened up. "What is it my lord?"

"I need you and your friend here to bring Ieyasu to Kyoto half a day's journey away, I hear there's a new shipment of firearms coming from those Europeans who call themselves 'Portuguese'. I've been expecting new equipment for a long time and they only responded now. If need be, you may use the newly acquired weapons and kill them where they stand." Nobunaga rode away into his tent.

Sighing, the two stretched and made for Ieyasu's quarters. "Say Hideyoshi." Chung couldn't help but ask. "Who exactly is Nobunaga anyway, and why does he call you Kozaru?"

"Ah yes he told me all about himself." The general stroked his facial hair remembering fondly of how his lord was in the past. "Nobunaga came from a minor household but quickly rose to power, like how I became from a mere peasant to this honorable position as his right hand man. Also Kozaru means "little monkey", my appearance must've inspired him to call me that. I'd tell you more but that would ramble on for hours, plus I'll save that for when we make the trip to Kyoto."

"Sure I guess." Chung crossed his arms, holstering his twin Shooters. "But you think they'll actually show up, these Portuguese I mean? It'd be sunset by the time we arrive there."

"Who knows, either way we'll let him take care of the negotiations." Despite being the favored negotiator due to his excellent social skills, Hideyoshi didn't want to be solely relied on all the time. Chung nodded his agreement and the two peeked inside the tent. Ieyasu was looking over some documents when the sun's glare got into his eyes. He grumbled to himself and raised an eyebrow when he saw Hideyoshi and the young gunslinger Chung outside his tent.

"Yes? What is it General?" Unlike Nobunaga's other envious retainers of Hideyoshi's swift rise in the ranks, Ieyasu respects the friendly general's personality enough to call him by his formal rank.

"Our daimyo wishes for the three of us the acquire the newest shipment of firearms from the Portuguese by Kyoto." The two conversed like friends in a serious tone.

"Kyoto?! That's half a day's journey from horseback!"

"Yes so that's why we're heading out now, before the sun reaches its peak in the sky."

"Well okay I'm coming. I'm doing the negotiations right?"

"Of course. These Europeans listen more to brutes with a big build like you instead of some skinny man like me, no matter our rank."

"Ain't that the truth!" Ieyasu laughed. "Well young lad are you coming with us or not?" The two glanced at Chung, who stared off into space due to not taking part in the conversation. Hearing himself being called, the teenaged gunslinger snapped back and stumbled along the two older men.

"O-Oh coming!" Chung called after them, the trio saddling onto their horses. Riding out of camp on horseback, Chung couldn't help but act prideful at the scowling looks of the lower ranked men as they spot three white horses trotting out all with Nobunaga's trusted men.

* * *

"Hi-yah!" Once out of camp the three kick-started their horses into a swift yet steady gallop through Japan. During the journey to Kyoto, around the time the sun sets itself between its peaking point and its sinking point, Chung asked his more burly companion about himself. "Hey Ieyasu, why did you join Nobunaga?"

"Nobunaga? Weren't you at the Battle of Okehazama lad?" The buff retainer looked quizzically at Chung.

"Yes sir! I joined with him and Hideyoshi back there when I first came here from a portal!"

"Oh right you're from a foreign world, what's that like anyway?"

"I asked you first, why did you join him?"

"Well, I guess you can say his ambition inspired me to live on after serving Imagawa." The Tokugawa admitted.

"It's true Chung." Hideyoshi butted in. "If Nobunaga didn't convince him to come with us, Ieyasu might've committed senpukku, or samurai suicide, back then."

"Ah I see, are we there yet?" Chung couldn't help it. They've been traveling for several hours now without rest and despite traveling with his friends, the young teenager never traveled this much in a short span of time.

"No not yet!" Hideyoshi playfully answered, much to Chung's chagrin. Unfortunately for the older men, the young gunslinger went at it for the rest of the ride (and nearly made Ieyasu wish he did commit senpukku).

CLANG! CLANG! Finally the trio arrive at Kyoto hearing the rustle and bustle of crates unloading from the ship coming from a nearby port. With Hideyoshi's signal, the "monkey" general hide from plain sight while Chung accompanied Ieyasu to the strange looking men waiting with the gigantic crates.

_So these Portuguese people have white skin like me as well? Brown hair and dark brown eyes, totally not like me at all. Whatever I'll let Ieyasu take care of it, but my Silver Shooters should come in handy just in case. _Chung thought to himself as the duo walked up to the four men who held the cargo. Once the distance between the two groups closed, immediately the Portuguese gasped and pointed at Chung.

"A-A EUROPEAN?!" Chung tilted his head. _They think I'm one of them? Because I have blonde hair and blue eyes?_ "W-WHY DO YOU HAVE A EUROPEAN WITH YOU?!"

"Calm down and don't mind the kid or I'll have to do something about it." The burly Tokugawa cracked his knuckles in the gunslinger's defense.

"...Tch, whatever." The leader of them, who had the most facial hair, simply dismissed his previous claim. Mouthing his silent thanks to Ieyasu, Chung listened to his companion's negotiation. "Anyway we have here cold hard shotguns, custom made for your liking." With his signal the man made the other three, his subordinates perhaps, open the crate by lifting the top. Peering inside, Chung and Ieyasu took in an eyeful of Tanegashimas as Nobunaga called it, long thin matchlock guns filled the crate to its top.

"Do they work?" Ieyasu raised an eyebrow and questioned.

"But of course, you may try one. Don't let the kid hold one though, he might accidentally blow his face off." He joked with his friends, much to Chung's rising anger.

"Now's the time to show them what you can do." Ieyasu whispered to Chung. Nodding his approval the gunslinger reached into the box and picked out the rustiest gun out of the batch, which didn't take much effort from all the other Tanegashimas in it. _Slightly heavier than my Silver Shooters and I'd need to carry this with two hands. _Chung noticed the heavier weight. _Though my cannon back home, Destroyer, weighs at least two tons heavier than this little toy._ Eying the small flock of birds above them flying over the sunset, the gunslinger aimed the matchlock at the widely spread flock and aimed carefully.

BANG! BANG! BANG! One by one, the teenager shot down each and every one of the dozen birds with perfect aim to boot. Each of the poor birds fell onto the sea, though that didn't compare to the extreme shock and awe the Portuguese traders felt during that mock shootout. "Heh heh, still think I'm just an amateur you clowns?" Chung taunted the four and placed the gun back inside the crate. "By the way it worked nicely despite rusting away."

"You-"

"Now now he tested the guns and they worked fine." Ieyasu interrupted the Portuguese man. "Now about the offer. How much for this?"

"Heh, I'm glad you asked." Chung didn't like the evil glint in their eyes. "I hear your daimyo or whatever ordered all this firepower right? Ask him if he's willing to convert into the one true religion, Christianity."

This is where the buff Tokugawa started to threaten them. "Lord Nobunaga doesn't listen to petty things such as God, you hear!" He growled at them. "Whatever he accomplishes is because of his own ambitious actions, not some divine prayer from the Almighty above!" With a grunt, he turned to Chung. "Come on Chung, we're leaving." Before the two could carry the big crate, they heard the reloading of firearms and turned to the four.

They were packing some of those matchlocks as well. _Dirty cheaters! _Chung gritted his teeth in rage, not even Elsword stooped so low to cheat. "I'm afraid we'll have to come with you, otherwise you can forget about your supplies." He grinned. "Surround him!" Immediately the three henchmen surround the burly Tokugawa while the leader pointed his gun at Chung. "What will you do now little boy? There's no weapon for you to play with."

Chung smirked. "Would your God really be pleased with seeing you and your men do this? Committing violence to achieve your goals? Last I checked, religion's all about becoming one with God spiritually and peacefully." In the blink of an eye, the young gunslinger took out one of his Silver Shooters and swiftly dashed right at the Portuguese man's face, holding him at blank point with the revolver. "Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I do have a toy to play with." He enjoyed the look of fear on the man's face. Grinning, Chung intended to spare him and instead incapacitated him with a shot to the knee.

BANG! The .32 fired from his revolver and shot through the man's kneecap, bringing him to the wooden bridge floor. The three subordinates witnessed this and immediately rushed to their captain, carrying him back to the ship. "YOU WON'T FORGET THIS LITTLE BOY!" The man shouted before they hurriedly departed from Kyoto.

"Well you showed them Chung." Hideyoshi came out of his hiding spot and headed to the two who struggled to carry the crate.

"Thanks Hideyoshi, I-" Suddenly something glowed from the bottom of the crate. Nodding with the two of them, Chung and his two companions searched through the dozens upon dozens of Tanegashimas to find a dimly glowing blue shard.

"W-What's this?" Hideyoshi pondered out loud, holding the shard.

"Well we could sell it to a merchant for a good profit, Lord Nobunaga would like more wealth for his ambition." Ieyasu eyed it marvelously, however Chung scrambled and grabbed it from Hideyoshi's hands.

"T...THIS IS..." His eyes widened, Chung's next words stunning both of the generals. "THE EL SHARD!"

"The...thing you were looking for lad?" Ieyasu asked.

"Yeah. Once I find it, it glows and sends me further in time and bringing me one step closer back home!" As if on cue, the blue-green shard rapidly illuminated and enveloped Chung's body. Knowing this is where they part ways, Chung waved goodbye to the two.

"Goodbye, and good luck on your journey young one!" Both of them bid him farewell on cue.

"Thanks, good luck ruling Japan with Nobunaga you two!" Chung nodded and wished them luck. Suddenly blackness filled his vision. He knew he was time traveling but couldn't feel a thing, only his inner mind was conscious. _Japan huh. I wonder what I'll see next! _The gunslinger thought to himself, getting ready for the next era to teleport to in the country.

* * *

**Me: Alright now with the Early Modern chapters out of the way it's time to get to the darker chapters of the story :3**

**Elsword/Chung: D:**

**Me: Oh don't worry, we won't know until I decide to update again fufufu**


	4. Chapter 3: Small Ember in Midst of War

**Me: Okay here's where things really get confusing.**

**Mario: The heck do you mean?**

**Me: Well starting this chapter, I'm talking about stuff that the class BARELY talked about but is still considered part of World History. Let's just say I'm uncovering some little overlooked gems from this chapter onwards.**

**Mario: Oh...fun...Chapter 3, START!**

* * *

_Chapter 3: A small Ember in the midst of War_

"So you little brat give me one reason why we, the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, shouldn't shoot you where you stand, Guizi?!" Several young men surrounded the crimson teenager who awoke from a fall from the sky after he retrieved his El Shard from the Yongle Emperor. Two men held their swords to the front and back of Elsword's throat while the rest aimed their rifles at him.

_Great I just got here and already this seems familiar. _Elsword thought lightly, being caught in the same situation before. "How about that I have no clue what the heck is going on? The red-eyed boy barked back at the amateur swordsman who addressed him. He felt the swordsman's loud exhale and withdrew from the young boy.

"False alarm boys." It seemed as if that guy was the leader, the others followed his signal and put away their weapons. "Now just exactly who are you? Are you really sure you're not those European guizi...you devil?! Your white-skin is awfully suspicious."

"Yeah and my spiky red hair isn't? I'm just someone from another world who's got nothing to do with jokes like you all." Elsword retorted back, noticing their tattered clothes despite their so-called society's name. "What about you all? For a group being called Righteous and Harmonious, you all look like mere peasants to me."

"Enough about us, you got a sword don't you kid?" The leader dodged Elsword's question and noticed the Knight's sword. "Come with us, we need to make up for last week's casualties and you look like in good shape to become a Spirit Soldier."

Elsword stared at them all baffled, as if he couldn't believe that came out of his mouth without hesitation. "No thanks, what kind of person fights with their spirit?"

"_Spirit Soldier_ you insolent kid!" He emphasized the term more. "You fell down from the sky didn't you? It's just as we predicted: spiritual soldiers from the heavens will protect China and purge away the foreign influences like those Europeans!" This time the group forcefully pulled Elsword back to their secret hideout.

"H-Hey darn you what the heck do you think you're doing?!" But it was useless, Elsword stopped resisting until they reached what the "Righteous Harmony Society" called their hideout. _T-This is their hideout? A couple of shack houses in some place called Shandong?! Oh El, even Ruben has better housing than these guys. _He didn't even bother trying to escape or try anything to harm them, being led to this "building" is the only clue he has to search for the El Shard in this time period.

"Come on little Spirit Soldier brat," Elsword grunted as the supposed commander spat at him, "Take a look at our casualties and _maybe_ you'll share our cause." Spitting in defiance, Elsword grudgingly complied and followed the man to the "casualties".

* * *

The two witnessed several other men in tattered clothes, obviously untrained medics, as they set down their covered transportation beds. Suddenly the young Knight had an urge to convulse upon the sight. Elsword turned away upon seeing the medics easily pull out the severed arm that hanged from underneath the cloth that contained the dead body, dried blood stuck to the stump where it disconnected from the rest of the once alive Righteous Harmonious Society member.

"Can't stand it can you?" The commander sneered down at Elsword, who knelt down to the ground and held his head in a vain effort to stop the sudden migraine. "And you call yourself a fellow Swordsman?" Elsword didn't respond back, turning away right before witnessing the emotionless medics cremate the body on a nearby fireplace._ Darnit! _He grew angry at himself for being so weak. _I've seen much worse fighting against the Demons, why does this shock me so much?! _After a few moments he noticed the Society commander beckon him to follow. Shrugging his put down look, Elsword shook his head and slightly gritted his teeth while following him.

"Those darn Guizi!" The two entered what was supposed to look like an official circle of debate with the various members to have one of the men, a completely bald old one (he still has clothes mind you), curse. "If only those Europeans can just purge themselves, then we can finally purify China and lead it into the next millennium!" Elsword's mind clicked once he read the nearby calendar date by the table, the year was 1899.

"What if we train this Spirit Soldier here?" Another person, one with a distinct moustache, pointed to Elsword, causing everyone to stare him down as the Knight reluctantly took his seat next to the commander. "Those people who died back there didn't have enough conviction nor do they had the protection of God himself." To Elsword's chagrin, nearly everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Hang on!" The commander, who knew about Elsword more than the others, butted in. "He's just a little runt! No Spirit Soldier sends a child to help us in the Rebellion against the foreigners who keep calling us 'Boxers!'". Once again the people agreed to his statement, it's as if everyone is too indecisive about planning so they follow someone who looks like they'll make a good leader.

_Those slimy little worms... _The crimson Knight was disgusted by this "spiritual" society hide behind the shadows and let someone else do all the work. He was about to stand up and protest when someone else bursted out something that grabbed his attention.

"If only those past leaders like Lin Zexu and Hong Xiuquan were sent as Spirit Soldiers rather than this kid. We could use their help to avenge their losses against this darn government we Chinese have and the Europeans!" The bald one peaked Elsword's interest. Who exactly were these "Lin Zexu" and "Hong Xiuquan?"

"Hey what are you mumbling about there baldy?!" Elsword insulted him, trying to hide his curiosity. "What about leaders like them? I bet this Lin person isn't even a leader!" He correctly hypothesized.

The commander sighed and paid attention to the bald one. "You might as well tell him since you made him curious. We need all the persuasion we can get to purge those European demons."

"Very well, now where do I begin." The bald man pondered, eventually starting with the man who lived first. "Lin was a Chinese bureaucrat who usually keeps to himself, I knew because I chatted up with him." The others, particularly the crimson Swordsman, listened intently as the man went on a flashback while inquiring them about the human catalyst of the Opium War.

* * *

"_Y-YOU'RE DOING WHAT LIN?!" The old bald man, then young and full-headed, exclaimed in disbelief when whispering about the tension between Europe and China with the illegal trade of Opium. Despite their vastly different class status, the two grew up together and conversed like old friends._

"_I said I'm burning down the Opium Warehouse, Lang." Lin repeated his claim to his friend. "This illegitimate trade of opium between us and the Europeans has gone far enough! I arrested Opium dealers and used force to pry the narcotic away from every single merchant in China and yet they still continue to trade with them ever since the Europeans taught them to smoke with it and calling the new form 'Heroin'. This goes to show you that even harmless medicine like what this used to be can become addictive and harmful, ironic isn't it?" Lin finished rambling on and started to walk away. However his friend didn't let him._

"_W-Wait! What if you get blamed for when a war breaks out?!" Lang tried to convince his friend out of committing this act._

"_I will get blamed, this has happened far too long for me not to get noticed. I'm sorry Lang but it has to be done, how much longer before our great country succumbs to those barbaric Europeans?"_

_Lang hung his head low. He understood that even he cannot stop his prideful friend once he set his mind into something, that's how Lin got into his position as a Chinese scholar and official in the earlier days of the Qing dynasty rule. "Fine, but is there anything I can do to help?" He offered support for what he unknowingly thought was the last thing he could do for Lin._

_Surprisingly, Lin accepted his friend's proposal. "Yes actually, I want you to have a copy of the letter I'm sending to Queen Victoria after I burn down the Warehouse." Lin took out two envelopes inside his pockets, giving one to Lang. "They're both identical, but I kept two copies in case those merchants from before don't ship my letter. This is why I'm giving you the other one, so you can send it to her in my place in case I'm unable to do so myself. Will you do this for me?"_

_Lang scratched his unkempt hair in thought and nodded. "I will, good luck Lin Zexu!" He addressed his friend by his official name one last time before leaving him._

* * *

The bald man, Lang, ended his tale there. What he already knew came from the new printing press from Europe several years ago from that time. He cleared his throat and looked at the people at the debate circle, particularly on the young lad Elsword, and finished up the story. "Lin was able to burn down the Opium Warehouse...but his letter was never sent. As a result the two Opium Wars years ago happened and we lost control of Hong Kong for a good century and a half."

"And what about your letter mister?" Elsword asked more politely, he's gaining respect for the old man despite sharing beliefs with the maggots around him.

With guilt written on his face, he flung the yet unopened letter across the table as the crimson teenager caught it. "I...I couldn't do it." He clasped his hands together and gripped tight. "I...was and am a mere peasant...those merchants would've never listened to me!" Ignoring his guilt trip, Elsword opened the letter and read it aloud.

"_We find that your country is sixty or seventy thousand li (distance of 500 feet, aka a long distance away) from China. Yet there are barbarian ships that strive to come here for trade for the purpose of making a great profit. The wealth of China is used to profit the barbarians. That is to say, the great_

_profit made by barbarians is all taken from the rightful share of China. By what right do they then in return use the poisonous drug to injure the Chinese people? Even though the barbarians may not necessarily intend to do us harm, yet in coveting profit to an extreme, they have no regard for injuring others. Let us ask, where is your conscience?"_

Elsword, understanding the message, crumbled the paper and shot it right back at Lang. "This...could've saved your friend from dying. If this Queen Victoria has any kind of common sense and not greedy lust like you all expelling the so-called demons from China, she would've stopped the trade herself!"

"Hey! That's no way to treat your elders you little ki-"

"No...he's right after all." Lang interrupted the commander. "I just...wanted to help him...but I was too frightened to do it." He excused himself and left the room. From there Elsword asked about the other person.

"Alright now what about Hong Xiuquan, someone who was an actual leader?" Elsword asked anyone in particular. "If this Lin person was the one who rebelled against Europe, why did this Hong person rebel in China like you lot now?" He tried to be as polite as he can to get the information.

Sighing heavily, the man with the distinct moustache decided to tell the tale of Hong Xiuquan. "Like us, Hong was a mere peasant during the Qing rule. All I remember about him is the crazy dream he spouted at me that made me think his mind grew warped and he became mentally insane." Unlike the story of Lin, Elsword merely raised an eyebrow as the moustachioed man continued on.

* * *

"_You're delusional pal!" The moustachioed man exclaimed to his friend, Hong Xiuquan, as the two worked on the fields side by side._

"_It is true Yao." Hong stood his ground calmly to his pal as he explained the strange dreams he's been having. "The first dream is an old man complaining that men worship the demons more than him. The second dream showed the founder of Confucianism, Confucius, being punished for his faithlessness which he later repented. And the final dream composed of a few angels carrying me into heaven, where an older-brother figure in a black dragon robe with a golden beard gave me a sword and magic seal to "purge China free from demons!" I know that the old man is God and the brother is Jesus!"_

"_Well anyone who believes in that Christianity baloney would think so, you'd listen to that all day wouldn't you Hong?"_

"_But here's the best part. I think I'm the younger brother of Jesus, the Chinese Son of God!" PLOP! Yao struck his shovel entangled in the dirt._

"_I-It's true! How else do you explain these dreams only happening to me, a nobody who's never even preached to God before? Maybe the religion the Europeans were bringing is the one true religion, that Christianity trumps both Confucianism and Buddhism?"_

"_Okay you're going too far into this Hong!" Yao yelled to snap him out of his delusions. "Even if the Chinese elites are going corrupt lately, what happens if this so-called Christianity is fake and the ones we praise are real?"_

"_No! That's exactly why Christianity is the true religion, look at what Confucianism and Buddhism has done to our rulers!" Hong argued._

"_That's only because they are the ones at fault, not the Gods!"_

"_The same Gods who are supposed to guide them into a righteous path, which obviously isn't happening! You know what I overheard some Europeans gossip around? That their economy is booming thanks to this 'Westernization' they called it. Do you know why? Because their Christian God guided them!"_

"_Forget this." Yao retreated back inside his house. "Just do what you want."_

"_With pleasure." Hong left the fields and pursued his new ambition._

* * *

Yao, the moustachioed man, wrapped up the rest of his story. "After that he gathered up a bunch of followers to start up a civil war here in China. It was recorded as the Taiping Rebellion with at least 20 million counted in the death toll."

"So we have an insane man who let religion take over him and another person who indirectly started a war due to their actions. How the heck would they help you as Spirit Soldiers?" Elsword asked them, while they thought deeply. Before the Nationalist promoting Society could answer the young boy's question, someone barged through the door.

"I-IT'S THEM, THE GUIZI! T-THEY'RE HERE!" Immediately they warned everyone in the nearby "Shandong Shack" village to gather arms. Quickly they equipped themselves with similar swords and rifles Elsword recalled when he first bumped into them. The crimson boy stayed put until the commander pulled him out of his seat by the collar.

"What do you think you're doing Spirit Soldier? You look like you need to find something right?" Elsword silently gulped. Is this battle-aged man really that perceptive? "Even though you're a little brat, they might not fire at someone young like you. We're using that to our advantage."

Reluctantly, Elsword released himself from the commander's grasp and followed him after dusting his shirt off. _He's right, luck might be on my side like last time and I'll find the El Shard sooner than I thought. _The crimson teenager reminded himself and unsheathed his sword and swung it over the shoulder style. After a brief walk alongside the rest of his "comrades" Elsword could make out several rushing dots in the distance. Multiple white-skinned men on horseback charged right at them, the Europeans readied their own rifles and aimed for the Rightous Harmonious Society (and Elsword).

"PURGE THE GUIZI!" With the commander's battlecry, everyone with the exception of the crimson Knight charged recklessly at the group.

_Darn it, guess with them thinking I'm a Spirit Soldier they still think they're God and immune to bullets. _Elsword thought darkly, knowing full well what being careless gets you in a sparring match. With a yell, he joins the fray as well.

BANG! BANG! Just as predicted, the Society falls down one by one with that "bulletproof" armor being nonexistent. With each shot Elsword hides behind the next person...and another after that...and repeats the process. Finally when the distance between them closed, the Europeans got off of horseback and continued firing their rifles against the remaining people still alive. Outnumbered ten to four, Elsword had no choice but to team up with the Righteous Harmonious Society to get out of this. Using his lengthy broadsword, the red Swordsman sliced off the rifles held in the hands of the Europeans to avoid killing them. After disarming two of them, a swift kick to both of their heads was enough to knock them both out. Sensing something to his left, he rolled out of the way from a shot from a European rifle as the owner was shot down by Lang's marksmanship.

"Thanks." Elsword bluntly thanked the old man and searched the battlefield for any signs of the El Shard when a sparkle caught his attention from the corner of his eye. _The El Shard! _The crimson Swordsman spotted the blue-green object atop the saddle on the horse closest to him. _Perfect, if I can just get that I'm one step closer to going-_

BOOM! Elsword froze when he spots the same old man who saved him, Lang, shot to the ground by one of the riflemen. From there, an internal conflict raged on his mind as he deals with the three men surrounding him. _Darn it! The El Shard's just sitting there, why can't I rush to it! _He blamed himself for actually thinking about saving the same people who treated him like a prisoner, stabbing one of the three riflemen through the abdomen repeatedly like a kabob and swinging him over to his friends. _El Shard...worthless idiots...El Shard...worthless idiots. _Elsword gritted his teeth and performed something he regretted.

After Yao this time was shot by one of the four remaining riflemen, the commander went all out and swiftly cut the life short of two of them. Thinking quickly Elsword rushed to help him by running fast, jumping, and swiftly performed a five meter long air somersault with his sword vertically against one of the Europeans. Finally with one left to go, he and the commander faced off.

SLASH! BANG! As if at once, both the sword and the bullet crossed through the hearts of both men, instantly killing the European but left the commander laying down in his final moments. Without thinking, Elsword immediately rushed to the commander, the one who treated him as a Spirit Soldier and not as himself.

"So that's it? All that boasting and you're going to die just like that." Elsword sheathed his sword and loomed over the commander like a shadow. "Looks like those Spirit Soldiers didn't shield those bullets for you huh?" He turned to walk away.

"But they did, you did." The commander gasped, prompting Elsword to turn back and ask quizzically.

"What do you mean, old-timer?" Elsword asked the rebellious 'Boxer'.

"I may not have been immune to bullets, but a true Spiritual Soldier like you protects us from having those bullets blasted into us in the first place."

"Whatever, I guess I must've failed my duty then. See you later." Elsword turned away as if he saw and forgot a new stranger. He returned back to the horse and grabbed the El Shard. _Guess that means only one more to go huh?_ He thought as the light enveloped him for the second time.

* * *

**Everyone: Huh?**

**Me: Hong the Taiping Rebellion leader, Lin the indirect instigator of the Opium Wars, and the guys Elsword runs into are part of the Boxer Rebellion XD!**

**Crystal: ...Total history junkie ^^**

**Me: Actually that's research Crystal, cold hard research when I haven't done much of it all year :D**


	5. Chapter 4: The Might of Westernization

**Me: Woo time for what I like to call the "dark" chapter.**

**Mario: Huh?**

**Me: Well...you'll see what I mean in a second. I even read the darkest bit of this chapter aloud to the class :D!**

**Crystal: Let me guess, they weren't phazed or anything? You humans are building a tolerance to these sort of things.**

**Me: Maybe, maybe not. Anyway Chapter 4, START!**

* * *

_Chapter 4: The Might of Westernization_

"_Alright men, position the cannons!" Matthew Perry, a Commodore in the U.S. Navy, commanded his men. As ordered, they positioned the heavy artillery posted on the ships they brought towards the Japanese capital of Edo and toward Uraga, a town nearby._

"_What is this madness?! Leave you American scum!" One of five representatives of the Tokugawa Shogunate, who led Perry to Nagasaki when the American searched for a Japanese trade treaty, fumed at him._

"_Oh come now, I won't fire the cannons." Perry jumped down from the ship and met with the five. "Now I demand your forces around my ships disperse and to accept this letter or else my men will have no choice but to rain fireworks upon this peaceful town!" He demanded forcefully, presenting a white flag and the aforementioned letter from President Millard Fillmore to the representatives. _

_One of the representatives who took the letter opened it and asked Perry to read it aloud, due to not understanding written English. After reading the short letter, the Commodore summarized it in a brief version. "If you take this white flag and surrender, you allow us to conduct trade within your ports and we'll show you true revolution. If you chose to fight however, remember that we are equipped with 'Paixhans shell guns' that are more than capable of demolishing a town with no more than three cannonballs. My representative, Commodore Matthew Perry, will return in two years time to receive your answer."_

"_Very well, we accept your letter." After considerable discussion, the entire Shogunate nod their approval._

"_Good, now I expect a reply when I return. I do hope you oblige and allow us to show you a revolution." He bid them farewell and got back onto one of his ships. "Men, move out!" After the Japanese ships dispersed, the American ships returned home._

_In two year's time in 1854, Perry returned with twice as many ships with even more firepower expecting combat. Once again he met the Shogunate as the Commodore departed by the same port in Nagasaki. What amused him was the white flag they carried, it looks like they accept the deal after all. "So men, what is your answer?" Perry asked them._

_One person held the flag higher while another handed him a treaty and a pen. "We accept your offer and your demands, our ports are open for America."_

_Smirking, Matthew gladly signed the treaty. "Thank you men, we'll begin business by trading with you all shortly. Until then, await the day when innovation and revolution come knocking at your doorsteps!" Leaving faster than he came, Perry handed the treaty back to the Shogunate representatives and headed back to America. Back in Japan, they ratified the treaty a year later. Now the treaty is known as the 'Convention of Kanagawa'._

* * *

A book closed shut as a blonde gunslinger read the treaty given to him by the Meiji Emperor nearby. "So that's how you got your idea for this Meiji Restoration, Mutsuhito?" Time flashed forward into a big jump when the gunslinger, Chung, arrived in the Meiji Era of Japan in 1894. The emperor found him falling into a ditch near his palace and offered to restore him, mistakenly believing the teenaged gunslinger was a European sent to aid his Restoration methods with ideas of Westernization. Japan secured yet another victory from China during the First Sino-Japanese War the day after Chung landed in this time period thanks to the El Shard.

"Yes, young Chung, I have. Revolution and innovation are key to maintain and strengthen your power in this world now. Those Chinese sticking to their old ways will never understand if they keep their humiliating losing streak as it is." Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor, answered Chung's question.

"Speaking of the war Emperor Meiji, what do you think of the state its in right now? You told me the Japanese soldiers here are fighting China over control of Korea and we're winning so far, is innovation and conquest the only motives you have in dominating all of East Asia?" Chung asked in a logical standpoint, ignoring the fact that Mutsuhito reigned in as Emperor at the young age of 15 back in 1867.

"It's thanks to our country's transformation from a feudal society to a modernized industrial state that we're able to easily overpower China and gain control of Korea. Yes those are my only motives."

"If they are your motives and if you call yourself an Emperor, why have you done nothing to help your men end this quicker?" Chung asked, thinking back in Elrios when he wished to protect his friends and end the demon invasions sooner. "Despite us clearly taking the advantage, men are still dying out there in your name and for their families." For a 16 year old gunslinger, Chung made valid arguments as to why the passive Emperor chose not to take action. He reloaded ammunition for his Silver Shooters while talking.

The Emperor sighed, possibly slowing down being in his mid-40s. "It's true that I can't do much for them as a leader after reforming this country into something great." Meiji chatted as if he's preparing a final speech. "But why don't you lead them into at least one more battle Chung?" The young gunslinger's eyes popped up at the mention of his name. "I want a young man with experience in the battlefield to help charge my men to fight and lessen the toll for casualties on both ends. I feel as that is the best way to end the war."

Chung got out of his seat that he used to chat with Mutsuhito and stretched. "Why me? Your forces are fighting in Korea as we speak against the Chinese! There's no way I'm getting there on time!"

"Well...I heard of a strange shard being found there a few days ago. The two forces there are fighting not only to gain control of the Korean City Pyongyang, but also to find this mysterious object. I believe that is what you've been searching for." He peaked Chung's interest.

_The El Shard! _The gunslinger's sapphire eyes sharpened as he realized his second ticket going back home and beating Glaive's challenge. "I can tell what you're thinking. You wish to go there as fast as you can correct?" Chung nodded at the Emperor's correct guess. "Very well, a ship is already provided by the port near here in Tokyo." He started to explain, reminding Chung the ship port of the newly named capital of Japan. "You may leave now if you wish, but take this." He handed Chung a folded piece of paper.

Opening it, Chung read the letters carefully and understood despite the foreign language. "T-This is-"

"I've taken a liking to poetry during my reign as Emperor." Meiji explained. "That should give you more than enough information about my thoughts about this war."

Chung folded the paper multiple times and put it in his pocket. "Goodbye then Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor." He holstered his dual Silver Shooter revolvers on his sides and dashed outside the palace. Thanks to the high ground it was built upon, the gunslinger easily found his destination and sprinted towards the port.

* * *

"Where are you off to young man?" The captain of the docked ship asked the strongly built blonde teenager as the latter arrived at the port.

"I...came in the word of the Emperor." Chung took a few moments to catch his breath and explained himself. "I'm a recruit who was assigned to aid the Battle of Pyongyang."

"Ah I see, it's nice to see young men volunteer to help Japan into greatness." The aged and chubby captain smiled. "Well go on aboard, there's no charge."

"Thank you sir." Chung boarded, noticing that he and the captain were the only passengers.

"ALL ABOARD!" Despite only Chung hearing him, the captain made sure he was as loud as humanly possible before setting sail to Pyongyang, Korea. A few days passed since they departed and land stretched out beyond them. Either drinking his life away or laying around dozing off to care, the captain chose this moment right before they dock to question Chung about his actions. "So young man, why did you travel alone to this battlefield? No one alive is that brave...or stupid for that matter." He chuckled at himself at that last part.

"I'm looking for something." The gunslinger admitted. "Don't worry I can handle myself there old-timer!" He strongly reassured the old man, redirecting him to the two revolvers holstered on his hips.

"Oho! I didn't know you thought about me that way sonny!" It took Chung a good ten seconds to figure out why the old man laughed so hard.

"S-Shut up!" He smacked his face with an open palm and continued. "Anyway what I'm looking is very important, and I need it to get back home."

"Well gosh I hope you get it then young man, just don't die out there!" Despite his carefree attitude, the captain was serious about his word.

"I promise then! Thanks for the ride captain!" Chung thanked, leaving the ship as soon as it docked at the Korean port. From there Chung settled to walking on foot, eventually finding himself just outside the town of his destination. _Now I could storm through and hopefully fire at some Chinese soldiers near the Japanese to let them know they're on my side...but with my white skin they could easily mistake me for a European! No I need a more direct approach and just search everywhere to find it! Wait one of them might've already found the shard and it'll take forever to look for it in every single house, the town looks too big for it! What if the shard is destroyed thanks to the war going on in there right now?!_

"AUGH FORGET IT!" Chung screamed after thinking so much. "I'll figure out a plan!"

* * *

The gunslinger took out and quickly rotated both of his Silver Shooter revolvers a full 360 to get into position into his hands. _Great looks like I only have six bullets for each of these two revolvers. _He darkly realized, remembering that he forgot to bring an extra pack of .32 bullets with him. _Looks like I'll have to make these count! _He was determined to quickly find the El Shard and get the heck out of there, entering the city of Pyongyang.

Upon entering the city Chung immediately stopped, horrified at the sight beyond him. Two barricades of cannonballs and riflemen surrounded the heart of Pyongyang, filling the populated area in smoke and ruins. Shrieks of agony and flying body parts filled the young gunslinger's mind as he recalled his own nightmarish memory of the demon invasion that took over his father's life slowly and painfully. Like an alarm clock, one extremely terrified female screech came from one of the nearly broken down houses flashed Chung awake and prompted him inside.

Thankfully this house wasn't caught in the heat of the crossfire in the center of town, however what awaited Chung was inhumane to say the least. Two Chinese soldiers pointed their rifles at a peasant woman shielding her two kids.

"WHERE IS IT?!" One of the them shouted at the terrified peasants. "WHERE IS THE GLOWING SHARD OF POWER?" _Glowing Shard of Power? _Chung realized that those peasants must've found the El Shard.

"I...I don't know...what you mean-" BANG! In a second, the other rifleman shot the mother point blank. Her two little boys, only at the ages of 12 as Chung inspected their appearances, screamed and begged "mommy" to wake up and wipe herself free from the red liquid flowing out of her. "Get rid of the rest of the trash, we'll look for the shard ourselves." The two men pointed their rifles right at the throats of the petrified peasant boys.

BANG! BANG! Chung couldn't take much more of that and shot the two men dead with three bullets to the back each, saving the two kids. Slowly, the young gunslinger tried his best to carefully make his way to the two boys without threatening them.

"W-W-Who are you..." The older one, the one protecting his younger more terrified brother, stuttered as he nervously questioned Chung.

"Don't worry." Chung attempted to reassure the two boys, who went through a lot in the past few seconds. "I'm not going to hurt you. The shard that they were talking about belongs to me, do you know where it is?"

"B-But you'll..." He stopped himself with a fresh batch of tears as he stared at the blank face of his mother. Chung noticed this and closed the eyes of the woman who protected her kids.

"I won't try to harm you like those men, I just want what they stole from me back." Chung chose his words carefully in order to obtain the El Shard as peacefully as possible. "Can you find it?"

"U-U-Uh huh!" The younger one this time sheds his tears and pulls out the shard from inside his clothes. He handed it to Chung, which the blue-green shard responded by radiating and enveloping an aura around him.

"Thank you." It was all Chung could say before he disappeared from the two boys without a trace, going to the next era to find the last El Shard.

* * *

Back at the palace, Emperor Meiji read the papers the next morning after Chung left.

"_JAPAN VICTORY AT BATTLE OF PYONGYANG!"_

_Japan successfully pushed back China during this decisive and one-side battle! No known Korean survivors located in the town!_

"I wonder...did Chung make it out alright." After that next statement Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor, lived the rest of his life in fast motion: the end of the Sino-Japanese war with Japan's victory, Japan's claim of the Liaodong Peninsula, and insistence of the Western powers (particularly Russia) forcing his country to give up the newly acquired land.

On his deathbed, he remembered the poem he gave to Chung.

"_The seas of the four directions_  
_all are born of one womb:_  
_why, then, do the wind and waves rise in discord?"_

* * *

**Me: Every Korean citizen in Pyongyang dies XD!**

**Crystal: What's with the poem?**

**Me: Shows Meiji's passive nature, particularly in the last line. I'd explain it in more detail but this is History not English class. Anyway yeah, Chapter 4's here woo.**


	6. Chapter 5: The Final Trail of Flames

**Me: YES SCHOOL'S OUT!**

**Mario and Crystal: *cheers***

**Me: Thanks, I think I have two more chapters of this story? So I guess it'll be done by Saturday. Until then, time to do some summer homework :'D. Chapter 5, START!**

* * *

_Chapter 5: The Final Trail of Flames_

"Keep moving fellow Chinese Communists! That means you too prisoner!" A senior officer on horseback eyed at the young men carrying military supplies over their shoulders or by hand as they marched across the dirt terrain. The searing noon sun scorched them from above as the five-meter long line of fully muddied men trekked across over fifty miles of dirt, running away like slaves from the Kuomintang army, or the Chinese Nationalist Party. Running one of them is a young boy who clearly stood out from the rest, the one the officer's keeping his eye on.

The crimson Swordsman "prisoner", Elsword, jogged without a sweat while scowling at the man on horseback. _Good thing I jogged with Sis all the time, fifty miles is nothing to me! _He thought grinning from the front end of the line. "Why not turn back and fight them rather than run away?" Elsword taunted the one at horseback. He gained the attention of every soldier as a few stumbled with their supplies thanks to the crimson teenager's sudden bursting. "It'll be a lot easier to take a few of them with you rather than run and have them casually walk here to your exhausted men and eliminate them all."

"Enough! Keep running!" The horseback officer rebutted Elsword's taunting with a firm command. Elsword mumbled under his breath and continued his pace, remembering the series of brief moments he experienced with the El Shard he obtained from the horse.

The blue-green shard he obtained was slightly faulty in that the owner of the horse, one of the riflemen that were killed, obviously tampered with the glittering shard (who wouldn't try to inspect a shiny material up close). Thanks to that Elsword was transported into two brief yet fresh memories of two different people in the same era he's in right now, jogging along with the other men in a Long March. _If I heard the idle gossip right, this is 1934? Heh this is several years after that Sun guy founded the same group chasing these bunch of "Communists" now. _The crimson boy thought to himself, remembering the two batches of memories that informed him of two different founders of Chinese political parties.

* * *

_The first memory presented him with the aforementioned Nationalist co-founder, Sun Yat-sen. Sun was chilling on the conference room with the rest of his supporters when creating his party. "Okay men we have our reign set up just nicely. The Qing dynasty is finally stepping down from power, I'm well-renowned as a Chinese revolutionary by becoming the founder of this new government we created, and we're a bunch of supporting nationalists coming together for the benefit _

_for our fine country! Now all we need is a name."_  
"_I got one sir!" One of his followers, Li Yuanhong, suggested. "How about Republic of China or Nationalist China?"_  
_The room roared with laughter as they cannot fathom how stupidly simplistic the names sounded. "Oh Yuanhong, you know we can't be so simple as to call it that. While you're at it, you idiot, why don't you suggest shaving off that ridiculous facial hair on your lips, they don't even meet together!" They continued laughing as Yuanhong fumed at being __blamed the butt monkey._

"_Oh har har har, you'll be laughing if this system fails in three decades." The room couldn't stop_ _convulsing laughter. "STOP. LAUGHING. AT. ME!" He yelled at them to stop._

"_Okay okay let's rest for now. I won't make it through the day if we kept laughing every ten seconds." Sun quieted down the circle, then scanned through the people seriously for suggestions. "Any more name suggestions that aren't from Yuan-I-must-shave-my-facial-hair?"_

_Waiting a few moments for the giggling to quiet down, another person chimed in his thoughts. "Okay how about the Kuomintang party or the Guomindang party?"_

"_No that would feel as if one person is giving the orders." Sun thoughtfully rejected, as the names refer to them being a political party instead of a party. "I have a suggestion, why not Republic of China for the name of our new government?__It's simplistic, easy to remember, and has a nice ring to it."_

"_I love it!"_

"_Bravo bravo!"_

"_The Great Sun Yat-sen has come up with another brilliant idea!"_

_As Sun basked in all the praise brought to him, one man was left out. "B-But I came up with that name fir-"_  
"_Shut up Li Yuanhong, I'm the best person to come up with names in this group! Why do you think I'm the leader of this brand new Nationalist government?" And with that, Sun Yat-sen founded the Republic of China, ruling alongside with Yuanhong (only because he feels sorry for the poor guy). Eventually Sun stepped down from power because he was considered too much like a God to rule longer than two months, gradually giving power to the next president Yuan Shikai._

"_And I now proclaim this political party name to be...Kuomintang!" A memory fragment from Elsword's mind from the first came from Sun Yat-sen's mouth, the Chinese revolutionary also founding the new Kuomintang Nationalist party._

* * *

Elsword returned back to his era after tripping over a few rocks, sending him hurling straight into the mud. SPLAT! The front side of the crimson teenager was all covered in mud. "Get back on your feet little brat!" Once again the senior officer yelled at him. Spitting out the mud and dirt from his mouth, Elsword mumbled to himself about a memory and kept running.

"Tch, not my day. Hope the El Shard is here somewhere in this 'escape' routine." The crimson Swordsman muttered to himself as he wiped dirt off his eyes.

* * *

_The second memory depicted the founder of the party the soldiers are affiliated to now, the Marxist ideologist Li Dazhao. __Dazhao discussed with his friend, Chen Duxiu, about the state of China in 1920._

"_I'm telling you Chen, peasants are the vanguard or the instigators of revolutionary change for this land. These oppressed Chinese need to unite against their bourgeois exploiters." Dazhao explained his belief to his wealthier friend._

"_So what you're saying is that the peasants need to unite against the Chinese elites? You're out of your mind if that even works friend." Chen didn't believe one bit of his peasant friend's dribble. "If that's true, we'd be enemies right now. Just like us and the Japanese who took away the Liaodong Peninsula away from us!"_

"_That's in the past now Chen, what we need are righteous leaders such as ourselves to lead China out of this Great War. The only way we can do that, is to team up with Russia and become Communist."_

_Chen merely sighed. "Stripping away class structure and economical status from a country that maintained itself for so long based on those two principles? No way it will work!"_

"_Just look at Russia, they're thriving despite keeping their communism to a secret. It's only a matter of time until Communism alone rules the Earth with an iron fist!" Dazhao firmly stated his belief._

"_Fine fine, I guess I have no choice then. Peasants as vanguards of revolutionary change and to rise up against their bourgeois and wealthy exploiters my rear, but I'll go along with it if it can help us." Chen Duxiu agreed with his friend, and together co-founded the Communist party of China a year later._

* * *

"Hey wake up!" Elsword's mind drifted as he blankly stared straight while jogging along the line. The soldier next to him snapped him out of his trance and the crimson Swordsman rushed back to reality.

"Yeah what do you want?" The teenager answered grumpily to the soldier, a man around his mid 30s, marching beside him.

"Can you...help me with this?" He moved his head to the left with an empty slot for someone to carry the other end of the supplies. It seemed the last person who held it let go and collapsed from exhaustion, being trampled over and over due to running in the front.

Elsword grunted and sighed. "Alright I'll help you this time." He grabbed hold of the other end of the supplies and dashed slightly faster than the rest of the soldiers. The man breathed easier as Elsword took nearly all the weight of the carriage effortlessly.

"T-Thanks boy." He gasped for air much faster and with less restrain as he continued holding the supplies.

"No proble-"

"Halt!" All the senior officers spread distant in the five-meter long line of marchers ordered, surprisingly having everyone stop at once without falling down. "They caught up to us!" Suddenly everyone but Elsword's morale plummeted and their faces grew pale.

A whole squadron came packed with rifles and cannons at the other side of the river. Noticing the aforementioned river, Elsword checked their surroundings for a plan. _Great I can't just rush ahead now, got to think of something. _A bridge enough to comfortably fit three horses side by side ran through the thinly wide river as the Nationalist squadron aimed quickly at the end of the line of Communists, knowing full well that the soldiers surrounding Elsword by the front would take too long to evade their sight.

BANG! BANG! BANG! As if they had hawk-eyed vision, the squad picked off the soldiers in the end one by one in rapid motion. Eventually the line of Communist soldiers dropped into half the five-meter length, then half of that, and half of that, until finally a few of them remained. Unfortunately for the squadron too focused picking off far away targets, Elsword and the supplies man charged them for two very different reasons.

_I have to protect my friends and survive! _The supplies man took out a rifle strapped on his back and began picking off half a dozen Nationalists on the high ground.

_Just need to find that last El Shard! _Elsword took his sword and swung it round and round, knocking over the same amount of Nationalist soldiers onto the ground, rolling their corpses down the hill.

The remaining members, about five of them, turned around and retreated. Just then Elsword noticed something glistening on one of their knapsacks. _Oh great I feel as though all of the people who oppose me somehow get the El Shard first. Oh El..._ He cursed under his breath and went straight after the owner of the knapsack. His fast yet heavy footsteps heard by the five-man squadron, the quintet turned around and faced Elsword.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Five bullets fired but Elsword only made out three. With the other two he didn't dodge, they grazed his right shoulder and cheek in that order. Feeling confident at Elsword's sudden tumble over the grassy terrain, the arrogant Nationalist squad closed the distance between the two and aimed their rifles right at the back of his head. "Give it up European!" They mistakenly assumed the white-skinned crimson-haired teenager's race. "We knew you were a spy for the Communists here, you one of Germany's men?" The foot placed on his back put a damper on any follow up remark Elsword would've spewed out.

"SHRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Obviously going against the meaning of stealth the supply man raced towards Elsword to aid him and, with an anguished expression, readied his rifle for battle. BANG! BANG! One by one, the supplies man saved Elsword by shooting down the last of his captors. Once his "Rambo" scene was over, the man helped the crimson boy up to his feet and handed him the El Shard from the knapsack he spotted it in. "Now I believe this is yours."

Elsword stood there shocked at his sudden superhero moment. "W-When did...how did you-"

"Seeing you try to take on the rest of them inspired me to try harder young man. Even though you're just an insolent brat in their eyes, you proved yourself a hero by saving what's left of us and for that I think you." Elsword felt like he replayed this scene in an earlier time but shook it off.

"Thanks...I guess?" Elsword awkwardly thanked the man as the El Shard began to envelop him in a glow one last time before going back to Glaive's Henrir Dimension for good. "Oh wait what's your name?"

"Mao Zedong, I hope wherever you're going you'll remember me."  
"Eh I probably won't." Was all Elsword could joking say before flashing back.

The rest of the Communist soldiers caught up to Mao. "Y...You saved us!"

"Well actually the other boy di-"

"Hey you think he'll make a good leader?"

"L-Leader? Me? I don't kno-"

"Yeah Mao might make a good leader."

"But I-" It was no use, Mao Zedong instead went along with it and headed the rest of the Long March to successfully evade the Nationalists.

* * *

**Me: Probably should've done this back at chapter one of the story but... oh nvm I'll just edit it in XD.**

**Mario: ...So what about the rest of your stories.**

**Crystal: Hush Mario he's busy doing his summer homework. *points to old hermit hunched over a textbook***

**In regards to my other stories I will update them once I finish my homework. Thanks to a certain persistent friend, I'm updating the Let's Play and Red Stained Knight, Fallen Purple Magician first when I get the chance.**


	7. Chapter 6: His Last Resort

**Me: Now here's where the WWII section of Japan gets radically different from what people are used to.**

**Mario: Huh?**

**Me: Well for starters the people I talk about in this era are two our class NEVER talked about but are still considered by name in the textbook, therefore my teacher was okay with these two people to talk about.**

**Crystal: ...This should be interesting. Chapter 6, START!**

* * *

_Chapter 6: His Last Resort_

"A-Amazing Yukio!" Chung read through the man's many, many published pieces of literature. The year was 1967 as the 16 year old gunslinger and a man in his early 40s sat peacefully in the latter's library at his home in Tokyo. The blonde teenager cycled through the man's award-winning literature, 1954's "The Sound of Waves", 1956's "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion", and 1964's "Silk and Insight". "These are great books!"

"You think so young Chung?" Yukio Mishima, his real name being Kimitoke Hiraoka, raised an eyebrow. "I guess saving you from drowning was a good thing after all, someone to keep me company back home!"

"Heh heh...I guess you can say that." The gunslinger didn't want to relive that episode again. When the El Shard transported him to this era, he fell into the ocean and nearly drowned. Without Yukio's help, who just happened to be fishing him out of the water during the time, it's very likely our sapphire-eyed teenager would've sunk to Davy Jones' locker. "By the way, do you remember anything from this "World War II" I've been hearing about that ended two decades ago?" Chung regretted asking that question after seeing the Japanese writer's face pale up.

"A-Ah no I'm sorry if you don't want to talk-" He shook his head back to reality.

"No I'm sorry for that Chung, you're the guest." Yukio politely accepted Chung's question of curiosity. "Actually a friend of mine left her diary before she traveled away." He rummaged through his bookshelves and found a small brown book resembling a journal. "Here, you can take a look."

Chung opened up the diary and read the author's name on the inside cover. "Yoshizawa...Hisako? Never heard of her."

"That's understandable. In this day and age even in war, women are always placed inferior to men and therefore less important no matter what they did." Chung looked at him with a quizzical look, back home in Elrios they didn't have such thing as gender inequality. As the gunslinger flipped through the pages talking about the second World War, Yukio explained more about Ms. Hisako.

"Hisako is a Japanese home economics writer who also kept this day-to-day diary with her on a daily basis. My guess is she wants to be recognized by the world in a woman's viewpoint in a given crisis, in this case the surrender of Japan after...that incident."

"That incident?" Chung asked once he reached the "August 15-16, 1945" diary entries. "You mean something in the World War?"

Yukio hesitated to bring it up but followed through regardless. "The...atomic bomb."

"Atomic bomb?"

"Yeah, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Yukio reminisced as he remembered the gruesome impact it left Japan after America pulled out that devastating move.

"How did it go?" Chung asked, closing the diary while keeping his page, more interested in the atomic bomb story at the moment.

"Well I was there, here's the whole story." The writer thought back to 1945 on August 6th when the destruction of Hiroshima was first announced.

* * *

_The 6th of August began like any other day, another day of wishing this second World War would end. I, Yukio Mishima, busied myself writing on my desk listening to the radio to receive updated news about the war. Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor back at 1941, a man's "Island-Hopping" strategy across the Pacific rim to get to us, and of course the bombing of two of our beloved cities._

"_W-What's this? Something's heading this way!" I paused my work and listened more intently to the radio, I can tell this is serious business. "It looks like...an American fighter plane?!" What! I turned up the radio louder to hear more._

"_T-The plane dropped something! It's...A BOMB!" I immediately shot up in horror. The Americans planned to nuke Hiroshima and all the innocent citizens in it?! After the kamikaze Japanese planes only took a few lives while merely meaning to disrupt the American fleet?! "I-IT LOOK LIKES THE END LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! EVACUATE! EVACU-"_  
_BOOOOOM! A massive earthquake shook through my room. Stumbling through the rough bumps I staggered to the window and looked on at the direction of Hiroshima..._

_...or what's left of it. A humongous "mushroom" cloud enveloped what looked like the entire city within seconds and disappeared soon after. _

"_I...It must've been an accident!" I told myself. "There's no way they dropped a bomb like that on purpose." They might've dropped it on accident or, judging from its destructive power, only had enough resources to make one. That has to be it! I wanted to believe this was a one time thing, but even if it is thousands of people died from an atomic bomb with that much destructive power._

_Boy was I wrong about the bomb. Three days later the same thing happened in Nagasaki. Again I listened in horror, again I heard the rumors spreading here in Tokyo how Emperor Hirohito will handle the situation, and again I can only sit here and think that maybe the Americans won't stop until they have enough nuclear firepower to demolish the entire globe._  
_Nearly a full week has passed since the tragedies that befell the two cities has passed, on August the 15th. Emperor Hirohito went on the radio and declared Japan's official surrender out of the second World War. Immediately my emotions conflicted with one another. On one hand I'm happy that Japan no longer has to suffer as victims of what this war brought upon us anymore. However on the other hand I feel...confused as to why he would surrender so openly just like that. I reclined in my chair and continued my writing, the memory of the bombings forever etched into my mind._

* * *

Chung gripped the side of his pants in anger. "War, war, and more war!" He cried aloud to Yukio, who solemnly sat after telling his tale. "After all this time, you'd think people would grow up and stop this senseless fighting!" He gritted his teeth, remembering all too well the consequences of war on the victims. The blonde gunslinger still couldn't get that image of the dead mother and her terrified children out of his mind as those two corrupt adults attempted to kill them as well.

"You know history, it always repeats itself and it always will. Mankind will never learn their lesson until a true utopian society is achievable, though it will become a long time until that society is even touched upon." For a writer, Yukio is fittingly philosophical and meaningful. "Now with the atomic bomb history in your head, you'll better understand Ms. Hisako's position Chung."

The boy nodded and opened Yoshizawa Hisako's diary and read it aloud:

* * *

"_August 15. As I listened to the Emperor's voice announcing the surrender, every word acquired a special meaning and His Majesty's voice penetrated my mind. Tears streamed down my face. I repeatedly told myself that we must not fight ourselves and instead work hard for the common good. Yes, I pledged myself, to work for Japan's recovery._

_The city was silent._

_I could not detect any special expression hidden in people's faces. Were they too tired? However they appeared brighter, and I caught an expression showing a sign of relief. It could've been a reflection of my own special feelings. But I knew I can trust what I saw..._

_The voluntary fighting unit was disbanded, and I was no longer a member of it. Each of us women burned the insignia and other identifications as part of the disbandment._

_I cannot foresee what kind of difficulty may befall upon me, but all I know is that I must learn to survive relying solely on my health and my will to live._

_August 16. People don't appear different than any other day of the week. However, instead of the usual "good morning" or "good afternoon", people greeted each other with the phrase "What will become of us?"_  
_Since and during the morning, the city was still placed under air-raid alert due to the bombings of Hiroshima and __Nagasaki._

_My company announced that until everything becomes clear, no female employees were to come to work and encouraged all of us to move to the countryside, adding that we should also leave forwarding addresses. This measure of action was taken to conform to the step already taken by governmental bureaus. Do they think that the occupation army will do something for us women? There's so many important questions we must cope with, and I can't understand why governmental officials are so worried about these miniscule matters._

_We did not have enough power and, as a result, lost the war._

_The Army continued to appeal to the people to resist the enemy to the end. This poses a number of problems. For starters, people show their true colors better when they have lost than when they have won. I merely hope that we, as a nation, can cling to a brighter future and show our better side now._

_However just because we have been defeated in the war, I don't wish to see us destroying our national characteristics that makes us who we are when we are dealing with foreign countries."_

* * *

"So that's her thoughts huh?" Chung thought wistfully. A woman who didn't know what to do anymore but strives to live on despite her morals becoming confused.

"Yes." Yukio stretched. "Now if there isn't anything left for you to do, then I guess you can leave here-"

"Wait!" Chung finally remembered the El Shard and explained it's blue-green appearance to his new writer friend.

"Do you know where I can find what I'm looking for? I need just one more to arrive back home."

"Right that thing!" He lit up as he remembered the shard. "I fished that thing out of the water right before I noticed you, sorry if I didn't realize you wanted it so much." Yukio left to his writing quarters and came back with the El Shard in hand.

"Thanks-" Chung reached for it, only for Yukio to move it out of his way. "Huh? Why did you-"

"I might not have another chance, and you seem like the only person I can tell this to Chung."

"Y-Yes Yukio?" Chung was confused as the glum man looked him straight in the eye and spoke as if he gave a final farewell to a good friend.

"Ever since I started writing I've always focused on controversial themes such as homosexuality, women's status in the world, and many more that Japan doesn't approve of, I always thought that the Japan of old is slowly starting to slip away from our grasp. Back when Emperor Hirohito surrendered our country in all of Japan via radio, my thoughts were made clear. This is a new era of Japan that we can't turn our backs to, one that may bring us into a pitfall if we travel through this path long enough."

"W-What do you mean?" Yukio shoved the El Shard into Chung's hands as the latter questioned him. For the last time, the aura begins to envelop Chung and send him back to Glaive's Henrir Dimension. Before that, the gunslinger heard the writer's final speech one last time.

"I came to wish to sacrifice myself for this old beautiful tradition of Japan, which is disappearing very quickly day by day." Bang! Chung finally disappeared back into his dimension for good.

Yukio Mishima, or in this case Kimitoke Hiraoka, smiled and walked over to an antique sword he kept hanging over the fireplace. Unbinding the sword from its scabbard, the writer pointed it at his throat and pushed.

* * *

**Me: Interesting huh, to learn about people you may never talk about.**

**Mario: Kind of like Ara?**

**Ara: D':**


	8. Chapter 7: Knight, Guardian, and Mentor

**Me: And this is the short epilogue on what happens when they go back, the last chapter woot.**

**Mario: About time you pretended you worked. So it's basically Elsword and Chung learning their lesson correct?**

**Me: Yeah. My god I think I just went philosophical in pretty much the whole story, what with the notion of God, War, and now lessons. Final Chapter, START!**

* * *

_Chapter 7: The Knight, The Guardian, and The Mentor_

Two teenagers materialized back into the silent realm, dimly glowing cubes lighting and dancing through the otherwise dead dimension. They patted themselves from top to bottom as well as their sword and Silver Shooter revolvers respectively, Elsword and Chung are definitely back in Henrir's Time and Space Dimension.

"We're...back." The crimson Swordsman and the blonde Gunslinger ran up to each other and gave the other a high five. "YES WE'RE BACK!"

"Congratulations." A white-haired mysterious masked man greeted them. "Guess you two finally pulled it off." After like...a whole day. He patiently waited for the two to stop cheering and sit the El down and listen to their life experiences during the lesson. After a few moments he was finally able to get them to do just that. "Now...what did you two learn during your adventure, and I don't want some cheesy summary of the three time periods you went through in your respective places."

Elsword went first. "Well I really didn't learn much actually, I spent most of the time not making friends with those Chinese anyway." He laughed and scratched the back of his head before moving on. "Anyway, lets just say that I happened to find myself in mostly...unfavorable circumstances. Usually it just ends up with me finding the El Shard to the enemy then grabbing it at the last second. Oh El, I'll behave from now on Glaive." He sighed heavily when rethinking his adventure.

Next Chung told his side of the lesson. "Unlike Elsword here who couldn't make friends aside from our group of pals back home," he snickered as the red Swordsman eyed him angrily, "I actually made some great friends and had most of my El Shards handed to me as a gift. Except...that one experience." He shuddered as the image back in Pyongyang would never leave his mind.

"I see..." Glaive thought deeply. "Well why don't you two have another sparring match, see what the experience has led you." Immediately the two psyched up and headed into position. Elsword took out his Great Sword, finally able to use his runes, and Chung pulled out his Silver Shooters, ditching the bullets for his mana charged ones.

"BEGIN!"

As usual Elsword made the first move. He began enchanting his sword with an enhancement rune, partially glowing it in a red lined aura, and dashed towards Chung. Anticipating this reckless move Chung starts shooting ahead of time where Elsword would normally dash, a zigzag pattern. Thankfully Elsword knew this would happen, instead running and rolling in mid-air with his sword to slice through any bullets that went his way. Waiting for his chance, the gunslinger shot a bullet right at the swordsman's leg once he reached the ground, limiting his mobile capabilities.

Now that they were back at their own dimension the gunslinger summoned his cannon, the Destroyer, and reloaded it with cannonballs. "Looks like this is another victory for me again Elsword." He jumped and fired a dozen homing cannonball missiles at the crippled crimson boy. As the swordsman held himself up using his sword, he sees his opportunity and waits for the right time. Finally as all twelve missiles home in on him from above, Elsword summons a burning phoenix to engulf all of them and give him not only his mobility back, but also to usurp every once of mana Chung charged into using that attack.

Realizing that his Silver Shooters couldn't fire bullets due to insufficient mana Chung tried firing the bullets of .32 caliber he used back in Japan in this battle, unsuccessfully attempting to hit Elsword as the more agile fighter either dodged or merely swatted away the bullets. Taking out his Destroyer, the gunslinger failed to hit the incoming swordsman with any of the cannon swings as the latter used the gigantic weapon as a stepping stool to get above Chung.

"Actually this is my win Chung." Elsword declared, fusing his sword with his flames. Using his now flaming sword, the swordsman drove himself to the ground continuously hitting and burning through Chung. Thanks to the now buffed up flaming sword, Elsword proceeds to keep smacking the gunslinger with a barrage of sword and burn attacks using his blade until finally the blonde teenager fell to the ground. Glaive halted the match with a victory for Elsword.

"You sure grew up a lot when you searched for the El Shards Elsword." Glaive praised him. "What advice can you give Chung to further boost both of your training?" He asked the young knight, tossing the two miniscule blue cubes up and down on his gloved hand.

The crimson teenager thought for a while then finally answered. "There really isn't anything." He admitted without a train of thought to back him up. He picked up the gunslinger back to his feet and continued. "All I can really say is to learn a lesson, like we did, we have to endure the pain we receive and make it our own. Use the experiences we captured and try our best not to make the same mistakes twice. Because for every ten men that starts a war back in that dimension, there's always one willing to make a peaceful change to their land."

"Wise words young one." Glaive spoke, Chung agreeing with him. "Now come, we have much more training to do."  
Elsword and Chung nodded, sheathing their weapons and following the Administrator of Time and Space.

* * *

**Crystal: That wasn't very long at all.**

**Me: Like I said, the epilogue didn't need to be very long. It only needed to explain what happened when they got back, and I think I did a good job with it. Anyway folks there's Time and Space for you, somehow the first multi-chapter story I actually completed. Looks like next on the completed story list is Red Stained Knight, I'll work on chapter 9...eventually :D!**


End file.
